Insecticide producer raises $14m in oversubscribed round

Vestaron, a natural insecticide producer, has raised $14 million in Series C equity financing after a last-minute commitment pushed the round over its target.

Anterra Capital, a Netherlands-based food supply chain venture capital firm, was the last party to enter the round, and the additional $4 million it committed took the round over the $10 million initially raised in August.

The other investors were a mix of experienced agtech VC firms including Cultivian Sandbox Ventures, Southwest Michigan First Life Science Venture Fund, Open Prairie Ventures, Pangaea Ventures and Michigan Accelerator Fund. The round also included unidentified investors.

Anterra span out of Rabobank’s venture capital arm last year and is backed by Rabobank and Moonray Investors.

Vestaron will use the funds to further commercialise its insecticide product, which uses natural peptides to defeat mites and other insects resistant to other insecticides. The firm’s products are not harmful to other humans, birds, fish, honeybees and the environment more generally.

“The commercialisation of [Vestaron’s] first product is proving that natural peptides can be a valuable source of novel insecticides providing farmers with a crop protection tool that has the power of chemicals with the safety profile of biologicals,” said Philip Austin, a partner at Anterra Capital in a statement.